Live Review: Norah Jones in Chula Vista, CA

The San Diego area's Coors Amphitheatre was transformed into the world's largest jazz lounge on Sunday night (10/10), where the evening's entertainment was Norah Jones and her Handsome Band.

Jones managed to create an intimate concert experience despite the immensity of the amphitheatre. Red velvet curtains draped the stage. Several lights resembling something out of the sixties with their polka-dot and vertical-stripe design hung from the rig. All that was missing was the tip jar atop the grand piano that sat center stage.

As the house lights dropped, the audience was greeted by an animated short featuring Hank Hill from the Mike Judge series "King of the Hill," who implored the crowd (warning of Jones' "short fuse") to turn off their cell phones before the headliner was introduced to an enthusiastic, yet mild response.

With a quiet crowd and enormous amphitheatre in front of her, Jones and her group opened with "What Am I to You?" from her second album "Feels Like Home." Any doubt that Jones could reach a crowd in such an atmosphere quickly diminished as the fullness of the band overtook the audience. Led by Robbie McIntosh on guitar, the five-piece band gave the song a bluesy feel that could've easily been mistaken for something from Bonnie Raitt's catalog.

Jones wasn't in the spotlight at first--even when she moved from keyboards to piano--instead directing the focus to the entire band. With Adam Leavy's acoustic-guitar intro to "Nightingale," from Jones' debut "Come Away With Me," the audience came to life and seemed to hang on every note. The band capitalized on that enthusiasm, slipping into a rumba-style jam that led into "I've Got To See You Again." Keeping the heavy backbeat of the previous jam, drummer Andrew Borger--perhaps trying to channel Gene Krupa--took a surprisingly heavy drum solo during "In the Morning."

Later, Jones would sit alone at the piano for a show-stopping rendering of "The Nearness of You." Before a backdrop of stars, Jones' voice slipped from breezy to sultry as she sang the song popularized by Billie Holiday.

Going from mesmerizing to surprising, Jones left her piano to join a stripped-down, four-piece version of her band on the other side of the stage. Starting with a cover of Tom Waits' "The Long Way Home," Jones stood surrounded in what seemed to be a small huddle of bandmates. The signature piano was hardly missed as she performed her hit "Don't Know Why." The set would end with "Creepin' In" from "Feels Like Home," giving backup singer Daru Oda a moment in the spotlight, filling the vocal parts Dolly Parton supplied on the album.

Jones' return to the piano was brief yet satisfying. She offered the crowd favorites "Sunrise" and "Come Away With Me" before taking to her feet again.

With years of touring behind her and a powerful band at her command, she opted not to quietly slide off the stage. Instead, Jones and her band ran through a spirited cover of The Band's "Life is a Carnival," a closer that finally coerced the crowd to its feet and definitely left it wanting more.